


Don't Say It Out Loud

by ryekamasaki



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bottom Sawamura Daichi, Fluff, M/M, Minor Hanamaki Takahiro/Sugawara Koushi, Pining, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 00:51:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8600671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryekamasaki/pseuds/ryekamasaki
Summary: Daichi proves that even being in college can't teach the ways of life and love. He gets good grades, makes new friends, and watches his best friend fall in love, and even then he still needs a little help to figure out the obvious stuff.In other words, The One Where Daichi Is A Giant Idiot.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EzzyDean](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyDean/gifts).



> A very, very happy birthday to my lovely, wonderful Ezzy! I hope your day is just as fantastic as you are, and I hope you enjoy this mess that I've written for you. <3
> 
> This turned out way, way longer than I expected, and I hope it's worth it, because it got totally out of hand.
> 
> This was mildy inspired by [this art](http://rarepare.tumblr.com/post/152623250517/might-i-request-matsudai).
> 
> [This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk) is the first song that Matsukawa sings. [This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I17pbWC8v9E) is the second one, which appears at the end, and is one of my very favorites.

Matsukawa Issei was one of the most attractive people that Daichi had ever laid eyes on, but there was something about him that Daichi just didn’t get. He was gorgeous and tall, and he knew how to play the guitar, which attracted people like some sort of pied piper, and yet the only person that Daichi regularly saw him with was his best friend Hanamaki. He knew he was his best friend because of the way that he had introduced him once during one of his impromptu ‘take over the quad for a mini concert’ moments, introducing the backup guy playing mock drums and the kazoo with a lofty ‘This is my best friend, Hanamaki Takahiro, and you can find him for all your kazoo playing needs.’

 

Daichi thought they were both a little ridiculous, but they were funny, and Matsukawa was kind to others even if he didn’t quite look it. He’d once lead a lost freshman clear across campus while barefoot, guitar slung over his shoulder haphazardly, even though pointing the right direction would’ve likely been enough to lead the dark haired youth to the culinary building, which, though far, was still visible in the distance. Daichi and Hanamaki had stood and waited next to the bench that they were all sitting on before Matsukawa had taken pity on the poor guy, and they watched him as he lead him to the building and then walked back on his own, strumming his guitar as he went. Suga ran up as Matsukawa made it back to the bench, and then they were off to the dorms.

 

They’re supposed to work on a class project together, and Daichi doesn’t really know how well they’ll all work together, not yet. They’re all barely acquainted, and classes have only just started for this semester, so this is their first big grade. Daichi hopes that they get together well, because he knows from experience that not getting along with your groupmates spells trouble for the project as a whole, especially when they can’t communicate well. Both Matsukawa and Hanamaki seem like decent guys for the most part, though. Matsukawa is pretty diligent with his note taking, and Hanamaki has an aptitude for understanding concepts pretty quickly. Suga’s almost an expert at explaining things in an easy way, and Daichi can only hope that he brings something useful to the table. If there’s anything to complain about they haven’t mentioned it yet, so Daichi works as hard as he can.

 

~~~

 

There’s meetings at the library, the four of them crowded around a too small table piled with various notes and textbooks and supplies, all of them pushed into each other’s space in a way that starts off almost awkwardly. The two pairs are uncertain with each other at first, needing to get used to each other, almost professional in the way they deal with each other. The first session is quiet and organized, them trying to figure out what needs to be done and who can do it, and how they’re going to split the work between the four of them without things becoming too individual. They decide to have the next meeting at a coffee shop on campus, the lack of caffeine apparently getting to them all. After they figure out all the major points of the project they call it a day and head back to the dorms.

 

That’s when they figure out that they share the same dorm, even the same floor, which relaxes them a bit and makes it easy to joke about how they know where each other lives if work starts to slide. Daichi and Suga part from Matsukawa and Hanamaki with a wave from Daichi and a cheeky grin from Suga, and then they’re alone in their room and Daichi collapses on his bed. Matsukawa is far too attractive to have to work with for long periods of time, but Daichi has to get over himself and stop getting distracted. Suga laughs at him, and Daichi flops an arm over his face, raises the other hand to flip Suga the middle finger when he just laughs harder.

 

“Shut up, Suga.” Daichi groans. “Like you weren’t daydreaming about Hanamaki the whole time.”

 

Suga hums. “Mmm, no, I definitely was. It was great.” He gets up and pokes Daichi in the side. “It’d do you some good to daydream a bit yourself though. I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

 

Daichi makes an attempt to avoid what he knows Suga is trying to say. “Hanamaki? No, you can have him, don’t worry about me.”

 

He doesn’t need to move his arm to know that Suga’s probably got his arms crossed over his chest, that he’s looking at Daichi with that look that’s half a pout and half a reprimand. He peeks from behind his arm anyway just to see if he’s right. Suga’s in exactly the position he thought he’d be, and Daichi can’t keep in the laugh at the predictability of his best friend. Suga drops his arms to his side and huffs. “You know what I mean, Sawamura Daichi.”

 

“Do I, Sugawara Koushi? Are you sure?” Daichi sits up, finally.

 

Suga stares at him with that look that Daichi knows means imminent trouble. “Yes, I am very sure. But if you want I can describe the ridiculous staring and pining I could see from my side of the table.”

 

“I know what you’re insinuating and I refuse to stoop to your level. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Daichi crosses his arms and mock frowns at Suga. “I was not pining.”

 

Suga raises an eyebrow. “But you don’t deny the staring, hmm?”

 

A sigh, and Daichi flops back again and covers his reddening face with his hands. “No. There may have been staring.” The bed shifts with Suga’s weight, and Daichi follows it, rolls until he can press his face against Suga’s thigh. “We have a project to work on, I can’t let a little crush disrupt that.”

 

“Well. Focus on the project, then, if you want. But eventually you won’t have that excuse anymore.”

 

Daichi groans and rolls away from Suga, hides his head under his pillow and resolves to take a nap while he has the chance. Suga pats his leg and then gets up, presumably to go back to his homework at the desk. He hums while he works, the sound of his voice mingling with the faint scratching of his pencil against paper, and Daichi drifts off listening to it.

 

~~~

 

Daichi ignores his little crush as best he can over the next few days, until the next meeting for the project at the cafe, where he and Suga show up to find Matsukawa and Hanamaki lounging on two extremely fluffy couches. Each one of them has stretched out along one to save the seats, for all purposes looking like giant assholes taking up far too much space.They also look like they don’t give a shit what anybody else thinks. Daichi has a problem. Matsukawa is wearing a crop top, a light purple one that may or may not be decorated with glitter, and all Daichi can seem to focus on is the expanse of abs on display. By the time he snaps back to himself Suga is already situated on the couch with Hanamaki, arguably far too close together, a devious smile on his face as he watches Daichi glance between the two couches. Daichi, for his part, barely restrains his sigh at Suga’s shenanigans, and watches as Matsukawa swings his long, long legs, clad in skintight black pants, off the couch so Daichi can sit next to him.

 

The rest of the meeting goes fairly well, considering Daichi can’t seem to keep his eyes, and thoughts, off the warm body next to him, especially not when Matsukawa leans over and inadvertently presses his stomach to Daichi’s arm to point out something in a book on the small coffee table between the couches. They work in quiet for a good long while before Hanamaki stretches with a long groan and Daichi watches Suga’s face turn an adorable shade of pink as his shirt rides up. Then Suga looks over at Daichi and silently dares him to say something, and Daichi’s not enough of a masochist to test an embarrassed Suga. At least, not in public.

 

Suga and Hanamaki go off to the counter to get them all drinks and a snack, and Daichi lets his thoughts wander while they wait, just barely watching Suga laugh at something Hanamaki has said, until Matsukawa speaks up in a contemplative voice. “They’re kinda cute together, aren’t they?”

 

Daichi tilts his head and hums in agreement. “Suga’d kill me if I said so, though.”

 

“Makki, too.” Matsukawa laughs and Daichi thinks he could listen to that sound for ages without getting tired of it.

 

Then there’s a little girl at Matsukawa’s side, tiny little hand resting on his knee, with a curious expression on her little face. She tilts her head, and her long brown pigtails sway with the motion. “Hello. I’m Kaori, and I’m four and three quarter years old. What’s your name?”

 

Matsukawa smiles softly at her. “You can call me Mattsun. You have very pretty hair, Kaori.”

 

She nods seriously. “Thank you. I brush it every day.” Then she scrunches up her face and stares at Matsukawa’s shirt. “Are boys allowed to wear that?”

 

Daichi watches quietly as Matsukawa looks down at his shirt, at Kaori’s little pink dress, and then back up to her cute little expectant face. “Yes. Anybody can wear anything they want, whatever color they want, as long as they’re happy and comfortable. Colors and styles and fabrics belong to everyone.”

 

She smiles, a little tentative thing sneaking across her face. “Even green, Mattsun?”

 

Matsukawa nods solemnly. “Even green.”

 

Kaori’s face explodes in a grin so bright Daichi almost has to shield his eyes. “Okay. You look very pretty. I have to go now.”

 

“Thank you. Have a good day, Kaori.” Matsukawa leans back against the couch again and watches as Kaori trots to a nearby table, where a woman has set up two drinks and a very large cookie. Kaori smiles at her, and they can just barely hear her voice drift over, asking the woman if she can please have a green dress instead of pink, because she doesn’t like pink very much. Matsukawa turns back to look at Daichi, and Daichi must have some sort of weird look on his face, because Matsukawa turns pink and looks back down at the table. “Um, sorry about that.”

 

Daichi tries to clear his head, thoughts of how well Matsukawa interacted with Kaori bringing up thoughts about how good he must be with children, and Daichi is already in way too far without seeing adorable things like that, even in his own imagination. He thinks about the tiny girl calling him Mattsun, and then he realizes that he’s pouting, that he’s a little jealous of the child getting to use a nickname that Daichi hasn’t gotten invited to use yet.

 

Hanamaki and Suga arrive then, both with grins on their faces, laden down with hot drinks and muffins. Hanamaki puts his handfuls down first and takes some things from Suga so he doesn’t drop them. The shy look on Suga’s face is something that Daichi files away for later, when Suga’s not talking softly. “Thanks, Makki.”

 

Daichi raises an eyebrow, but Matsukawa speaks before he can say anything. “Makki, huh. Getting close already, aren’t you?”

 

Suga turns pink, but Hanamaki responds before he can open his mouth. “Saw you made a new friend of your own.”

 

Matsukawa starts to retort and is interrupted by a tiny little cough, and they turn to find Kaori at Matsukawa’s knee again. “Hello again, Kaori.”

 

“Hello, Mattsun. Thank you again. My mom is taking me to buy a new green dress right now!”

 

“That’s great! Have fun and pick a nice one, okay?”

 

Kaori runs back to her mother, turns and waves over her little shoulder, her mother looking on fondly. “Bye bye, Mattsun!”

 

Hanamaki looks like he’s holding back a laugh, and Matsukawa looks sheepish. Suga’s already settled back onto the other couch, mug partially covering his grin. Hanamaki doesn’t bother to hide his own as he imitates Matsukawa’s earlier comment. “Getting close already, huh?”

 

Suga gives a tiny mock insulted huff and turns to look at Daichi. “And yet we still call him by his name, after all this time.” Suga sniffs and Daichi tries to put on a fake mad face, crossing his arms. “We see how it is.”

 

Matsukawa laughs at them both, and Daichi can’t hold on the the faux seriousness any longer than that. Then Matsukawa is speaking up, and Daichi isn’t quite sure but he thinks he sounds a little shy. “You can both just call me Mattsun, you know.”

 

Suga nods decisively. “Good. Now let’s get back to work.”

 

~~~

 

When he and Suga get back to their room, the next meeting scheduled at the library again, they stand and stare at each other a minute. Suga breaks first, turns and flops onto Daichi’s bed. Daichi can’t keep the amusement from his voice when he speaks. “He got you all flustered already, huh. You’re a sap for little gestures aren’t you?”

 

Suga’s first reaction is a groan, directed into the mattress, and then he flips over and stares Daichi down like he’s going to cook him for dinner. “Think you’ve got room to talk, do you? I saw the way you stared at him with that little girl.” Suga grins, and it’s a devious thing. “Wanting to make babies already, Daichi?”

 

It’s Daichi’s turn to groan, and he tries not to think about how adorable Matsukawa had been talking to the little four year old. He swipes his pillow off the bed and throws it at Suga in lieu of a proper answer. Suga takes it as a challenge, and it devolves into a ridiculous pillow fight that eventually ends when Suga plops his ass on Daichi’s stomach and resorts to tickling him until they’re both laughing so hard they can’t breathe. They don’t talk about their respective crushes again that night.

 

~~~

 

Their next meeting is supposed to be at the library, but since it’s so nice out they all decide to sit out on the lawn instead of going inside. They get an impressive amount of work done considering that it seems like the sun is begging them all to just take a nap right there, at least until they get interrupted. This time it’s not a small child, though. Instead it’s a fluffy little black and white kitten, just barely bigger than Matsukawa’s hand. Daichi wonders if it knows that they have snacks, or if it’s always here near the library. He digs a bag of treats out of his backpack, and the kitten climbs over Matsukawa’s lap to flop over into Daichi’s instead, one paw raised to bat at the bag.

 

Daichi laughs a little, winces when teeny tiny claws catch his finger instead, and the little kitten purrs as Suga leans over to stroke down it’s back. Matsukawa’s fingers brush against Daichi’s as he takes the snacks from his hand and rustles around to find something the kitten will like. They spend a good amount of time ignoring their work in favor of the furball, cooing over it and petting it and watching it play with Matsukawa’s shoelace, which he wiggles around to make it entertaining. The snacks are gone and the sky is changing color when the kitten yawns and scampers away with a tiny little meow.

 

Daichi can’t help but look fondly after it, missing the cat that used to come round his house when he was younger, and when he glances over to the rest of them he sees that Matsukawa is looking after it as well. He wonders if Matsukawa had any pets, or if he had a neighborhood stray like Daichi did. He’s too busy trying to figure out if it would be weird to ask when Matsukawa turns and looks at him, and his smile shocks Daichi into blushing and looking away, aware that he was just caught staring. Daichi turns away, but on the other side of him is Suga and Hanamaki, gazing at each other in silence, and Daichi isn’t sure what situation is more dangerous for his health. If he turns back to Matsukawa, his dark brown eyes might convince him to say something that he’s not ready to say, but Suga will most definitely kill him if he interrupts any moments between him and his crush.

 

Luckily Daichi’s thoughts are interrupted, Matsukawa hopping to his feet and stretching, and Daichi looks up at him from the ground. Matsukawa looks even taller than normal from where he is, and that’s a feat in and of itself, considering that he’s already practically a tree. Daichi gets a wonderful view of sculpted abs and strong biceps, and he has to bury his face in the blanket they’re sitting on before his blush is really made obvious. A giggle comes from Suga, and Daichi’s not sure if he wants to know what he finds amusing. Most likely he’s laughing at Daichi, but he can only hope that Suga’s distracted by something else.

 

Daichi looks up again, in the direction that the tiny black and white kitten disappeared in and wonders if it has a home, somewhere warm to cuddle up in, someone to feed and pet it. If he weren’t in school, if he didn’t live in the dorms, he might’ve tried to keep it, to make sure it had a nice home. Then there’s a hand in front of his face, interrupting his thoughts, and he follows the arm to look up to Matsukawa’s face. He takes the offered hand to help him to his feet, and trips a little over the blanket, ends up planting his face square in Matsukawa’s chest.

 

They’re both pink when he pulls away, Daichi’s hand still in Matsukawa’s. They let go quickly, and Daichi turns to pack up his bag, storing the garbage from the snacks so he can throw it away properly. Suga laughs, a sound like tinkling bells, and Daichi glances over to see Hanamaki spinning Suga in a circle. The look on Suga’s face is precious and it makes Daichi smile. He hopes that even if he can’t get his own feelings for Matsukawa sorted out, that Suga and Hanamaki work out, because there’s nothing that Daichi likes to see more than his best friend happy.

 

Matsukawa laughs gently from behind him, and by the look on his face, Daichi thinks that maybe they were thinking along the same lines. The other two stop spinning, and Suga tucks his hair behind his ear as his face turns red when he realizes that they were being watched. Daichi smiles at Suga, decides not to say anything that might actually embarrass him. At least, not in front of the other two. Suga can be vengeful and dangerous when messed with, and the last thing Daichi needs is to goad Suga into doing or saying something mortifying in front of Matsukawa. Daichi’s crush and endless staring are going to get him into enough trouble without any help.

 

He wonders if it’s possible that Matsukawa might like him too, but so far all Daichi’s learned is that he’s sweet and kind, good with children and animals, but not a thing about his preferences or if he’s even interested in dating at all. He knows some people aren’t, and he also knows that he can’t risk their project for something as inconsequential in the long run as a little crush, no matter how attractive and wonderful he finds Matsukawa. Suga looks over at him, gives him a tiny glare and a head shake, like he knows Daichi is over thinking. He also gets a nudge in the side, far stronger than most people would expect from Suga, after they’ve cleaned up and scooped up the blanket and started back off toward the dorms.

 

It’s just around time for dinner, and so Matsukawa and Hanamaki wander off with a wave while Daichi and Suga continue on toward their room. Daichi hasn’t even gotten his mouth open yet when Suga shushes him. “Shhhhhh.”

 

Daichi grins. “Shhhhhh, what?”

 

“Shhhhhh, everything. Quiet time, Daichi. Quiet time.” Suga drops his bag and the blanket next to the desk and then sprawls across Daichi’s bed. “Come. Sit.”

 

Suga pats the bed and Daichi already knows what he wants, but he resists anyway, for fun. “Really, Suga.”

 

“Yes, really. I need snuggles, Daichi. It’s in the best friend contract.”

 

“Best friend contract. I fail to remember anything of the sort.” Still, he flops next to Suga, lets him curl his octopus arms around him, sighs into his chest. There is something great about being able to be close to someone like this.

 

Suga’s practically whispering. “You didn’t read the fine print.”

 

Daichi hums, and keeps his voice as quiet as Suga’s, still muffled into his chest. “You really like him, yeah?”

 

A sigh that brings a tiny breeze that ruffles Daichi’s hair. “Yeah.”

 

“You looked happy. It was cute.”

 

Suga scoffs, but Daichi can tell he’s still happy, that he’s probably thinking back on it. “What about you?”

 

Daichi makes a little rumbly noise. Suga just sighs and pats his head with one hand, then curls up a little more around him, humming some tuneless little thing that makes Daichi sleepy. Still, he has enough sense to remember they’ve got stuff to do, so he speaks up. “We’ve got homework to finish, you know.”

 

Suga’s humming pauses, and Daichi can see the face he’s making in his mind. “Later, Daichi. It’s best friend cuddle time now. You can’t get out of it.”

 

Daichi laughs but doesn’t argue. It is pretty nice, after all.

 

~~~

 

Their next meeting is luckily not interrupted by children or small animals, but Daichi still finds himself distracted by Matsukawa anyway. They’re almost done with their project at this point, ahead of deadlines, even, and Daichi can’t help but think about what will happen after they don’t have to get together to do work anymore. There’s a somber air in this last meeting, the knowledge that it’s their last settling heavily on all of them. Even Matsukawa and Hanamaki’s joking with each other is subdued, laughs a little less potent than usual. Daichi wonders if it would be weird to suggest they keep hanging out together, if the others would think that it was odd, since they really only came together for the sake of the project.

 

Suga speaks up when they’re slowly putting their things away. “You know, we should keep getting together like this.” They all look up at his suggestion, and Daichi is a little glad for it, at least until he sees Suga’s devious little face. “After all, we all work well together, and we’re in a bunch of the same classes anyway.”

 

Matsukawa nods seriously, and Hanamaki’s eyes light up, like it’s the most brilliant thing he’s ever heard. Hanamaki turns to Matsukawa and Daichi’s side of the table, grin wide. “He’s right you know. We do manage more homework when we work together.”

 

He makes some sort of odd facial expression at Matsukawa, and he responds with a wrinkle of his nose that Daichi thinks is absolutely adorable. Suga clears his throat and sends Daichi a pointed look, most likely able to determine what Daichi’s thinking without any trouble. Daichi raises an eyebrow at him, but Suga just grins happily and claps before speaking again. “Well, that’s settled. Hanamaki is going to walk me to the cafeteria, you two have fun.”

 

Hanamaki, for his part, does not look surprised at all, only slings his backpack over a shoulder and then holds an arm out for Suga to latch onto. Suga throws a carefree wave over his shoulder, sure that Daichi is watching them both go, which he is. He finishes packing up, stuffs the last notebook into his bag, and Matsukawa gets done just as soon as Daichi zips his bag. They walk out slowly together, neither of them in any sort of rush, and start to take the path back to the dorms without any prompting.

 

Matsukawa glances over at him and smiles, and Daichi’s just about to ask if something is on his face when Matsukawa speaks up. “You wanna come to my room and play some video games or something?”

 

Daichi blinks in surprise, but it sounds fun, and he’s not really hungry anyway. “Sure.”

 

They walk back quietly, watching the other people on campus go about their business as they walk, and Daichi’s a little glad they aren’t really talking, because if they were he’s positive that he’d be stuttering whenever their hands accidentally brush between them. As it is he knows that he turns red, and he wonders if Matsukawa thinks something is wrong with him, the way Daichi’s forever blushing around him, or if he just assumes that Daichi normally turns red at inconsequential things.

 

Daichi follows Matsukawa back to his room, which is at the further end of the same hall that he and Suga have their room in. It’s a decently neat room, all in all, probably a little cleaner than you would expect from two college age athletic boys. Daichi doesn’t even almost trip over anything, which sometimes even happens in his and Suga’s room.

 

Matsukawa drops his bag and gestures around. “Welcome. You can sit wherever you want.” Then he bends down to fiddle with a game console, and Daichi practically crumbles onto the nearest bed.

 

He swallows harshly. “What are we playing?”

 

Matsukawa holds up a couple of game cases over his head. “You’re the guest, your choice.”

 

Daichi considers a minute, and picks one that looks more like an RPG than anything else. “The right one.”

 

A grin over Matsukawa’s shoulder that makes Daichi want to memorize it. “You don’t play much, do you?”

 

“Not really. We don’t have any systems over in our room. Or a tv, for that matter.” Daichi smiles and catches the controller that Matsukawa tosses him. “I’m probably terrible at this.”

 

Matsukawa makes a dismissive noise. “No big deal. It’s for fun, anyway.”

 

They wind up playing until Hanamaki returns, and Daichi really isn’t that bad. Hanamaki looks a little dazed, and Daichi thinks briefly that he’s not sure he wants to know what Suga did to put that look on his face. He and Matsukawa exchange some sort of silent eyebrow conversation, and Daichi gently puts down his controller and stands up to stretch. Then his stomach rumbles and the others both look at him. Hanamaki nudges at Matsukawa’s leg with his foot, and Matsukawa grabs on to his ankle and tugs. Hanamaki laughs and waves him off, then flops across the other bed and buries his nose in his phone.

 

“Daichi, you wanna go and get something to eat before the cafeteria closes?” Matsukawa pulls himself off the floor and stretches, showing off a strip of skin on his abdomen that Daichi has to convince himself to stop looking at.

 

“That sounds nice.” Daichi scoops up his bag. “Let me drop this off and we can go.”

 

Matsukawa nods and rifles through his bag for his keys while Daichi walks over to his own room to leave his bag at the foot of his bed. Suga’s there, of course, laying on Daichi’s bed, moon eyed and rosy cheeked, staring at the ceiling and smiling to himself. He hardly notices when Daichi enters, doesn’t even bother to look over. Daichi laughs, and finally attracts Suga’s attention.

 

He frowns at Daichi. “What?”

 

“Nothing. You look happy.” Daichi smiles down at him.

 

“Ah, yeah. Dinner was nice.” Suga smiles dreamily at him, and Daichi can’t help the grin from crossing his face at how Suga is acting.

 

“Okay then. I’ll be back later, we’re gonna go eat now.” Daichi’s halfway across the room when Suga hums.

 

“’We’, huh? Have fun papa crow. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Suga laughs at Daichi’s scrunchy face, rolls over and buries himself in Daichi’s blankets.

 

“Brat.” Daichi closes the door behind himself softly, and Matsukawa is just down the hall waiting for him.

 

They get about a quarter of the way to the cafeteria when they come across the fluffiest puppy that Daichi’s ever seen, and they pause to ask it’s owner if it’s okay for them to pet it. It’s fur is soft, softer than anything Daichi’s ever felt before, and when he watches Matsukawa lean down to pet it he can’t help the butterflies in his stomach that flutter wildly. Matsukawa looks up at him with one of the biggest smiles Daichi’s seen on him, and Daichi is almost positive that his heart stops in his chest before starting up again in double time.

 

They spend a good ten minutes or so playing with the pup, and the owner thanks them for tiring it out a little bit more than they could have with just a walk. They watch them trot off together and then turn and start the walk back to the cafeteria. Now Daichi is really hungry, and his heart still hasn’t gotten back to normal time, and the setting sun is throwing bright rich oranges all around. They catch on Matsukawa’s face, and Daichi almost gets caught staring again. Matsukawa doesn’t question him, though, just smiles a little and keeps chattering on about how cute the puppy was, and how one day he’d like to get one of his own, maybe a sweet little shiba.

 

The cafeteria is quiet when they get there, almost closed for the night, and they get their food and sit to eat. They focus more on eating than on talking, and it doesn’t take them all that long to finish. The pile their dishes back up on a counter and then start the trek back to their dorms again. By this time the sky is dark, and there are sparkling little stars lighting up the sky, and Daichi looks up in pleasure at them. Matsukawa walks next to him, and he cups a hand around Daichi’s elbow to lead him around a garbage can. Daichi, for his part, just barely restrains himself from tripping anyway, at the feeling of Matsukawa’s warm skin. He pays attention to where he’s walking after that, and Matsukawa drops his hand to his side.

 

Daichi finds himself thinking about what would happen if this were actually a date. Would they kiss after they get back to the dorms? Would they both end up in one of their rooms, passing the rest of the night in a sweaty mess, or would they cuddle together in one bed, bodies pressed together? He wouldn’t mind finding out, really, even if Suga would poke fun at him for ages. As it is though, Matsukawa holds open the door for him when they get to it, and then he’s off down his end of the hall with a wave and a cheery ‘see you later, Daichi!’ that rings in Daichi’s ears the rest of the walk to his room.

 

Suga’s asleep in his own bed, thankfully, and Daichi changes in the relative darkness before sliding into bed. He lets the day replay in his mind over and over as he falls asleep, and his last conscious thought is that he wouldn’t have minded if there had been a good night kiss. Maybe one day, if he ever gets up the nerve to tell Matsukawa about his fledgling feelings, one day when he’s not afraid to ruin their friendship in the likely event that Matsukawa doesn’t have any feelings for him. He snuggles into his pillow and falls asleep with a smile on his face, remembering how adorable Matsukawa had looked while playing with the puppy.

 

~~~

 

They wind up hanging out a lot together, especially after they get the results back from their project with the highest grade in the entire class. They do work well together, no matter how joking Suga was when he said it, it was still true. Homework gets done a lot quicker with company, even if they’re quiet and working on different things, and it’s a lot easier to figure hard stuff out when you have three other people all learning the same thing. There’s plenty of dinners together, too, and game marathons in Matsukawa and Hanamaki’s room. Sometimes they stay in Daichi and Suga’s room to study, where there are less distractions.

 

Daichi tries not to dwell on it too much when Matsukawa lays out on his bed, tries not to push his face into his pillow to catch the faint scent of Matsukawa’s cologne. Suga gives him this look sometimes, though, and Daichi knows that he wants to say something. Daichi ignores it best he can, and when he can’t he resorts to knocking Suga over and tickling him until he cries, which usually ends any conversations, silent or otherwise, very quickly. Daichi doesn’t really want to think about any of it, and he certainly doesn’t want to put it into real words. He knows he’s got it bad, and he should just say something and get it over with, see if Matsukawa feels the same way he does or if he just considers Daichi a friend, but Daichi can’t take the ache that starts up in his chest when he thinks about losing that friendship.

 

He knows that it wouldn’t end just like that, but it could get awkward, and Daichi wouldn’t want to tarnish Suga and Hanamaki’s budding relationship because he couldn’t control himself, either. He’s okay the way it is, getting to see Matsukawa pretty much every day, to work with him and joke with him. Sharing dinner and games, movies and notes, Daichi can be happy with this. He just needs to get used to it, that’s all. He’s never really had a crush on anyone before, not even Suga, even though pretty much everyone in high school thought that they were dating at some point or another. But this is a crush, and Daichi can deal with it, can keep it close to his heart and let it sit there or fade. He can keep their friendship just fine, can ignore the fluttering in his stomach and the pounding of his heart. He can keep it together, he tells himself. He can.

 

~~~

 

They get together a lot to do homework and play games, and the four of them tend to get meals together as well. Hanamaki and Suga tend to disappear on them pretty often, but Daichi knows Suga, and he knows if he asks he’s liable to get an earful of details that he’d rather not have. Hanamaki and Matsukawa have some sort of eyebrow wiggling contest after the two of them show up late one day, though, and Daichi’s pretty sure that between that and the red on Suga’s cheeks he already has more than enough information to formulate an appropriate answer.

 

Daichi’s walking down to the kitchen in the dorm one day that they aren’t all spending together, though Suga and Hanamaki are probably off on their own, when Matsukawa ambles around the corner and practically presses Daichi to the wall, one arm above Daichi’s head. He smirks before he opens his mouth to talk. “What would it take for me to convince you to let me take you out?”

 

Daichi grins. “Probably not kabe-don.” Then he slides away from the wall and continues on the way to the kitchen, glad that Matsukawa left behind him means he can’t see the blush growing across Daichi’s face. He hopes that he looked more confident than he felt, hopes that his stomach twisting in knots wasn’t visible. He tries to tell himself not to get too worked up over it, that Matsukawa was just joking like he always does, always joking and teasing and laughing, and that it’s highly unlikely that he meant it in the way that Daichi wishes he did.

 

He makes his dinner, takes it with back to his room, where he eats in peace and quiet until Suga announces his arrival with a grand swing of the door. Daichi winces even though it doesn’t hit the other wall, and he barely gets a moment to be thankful when Suga flings it closed again, though he luckily doesn’t actually let it slam closed. With Daichi in his desk chair, as close to the floor as it can go, Suga practically towers over him. He gives off a menacing air, even with a cheerful grin on his face, and Daichi wonders what’s got him in a mood.

 

“So, Daichi. I heard Mattsun got rejected. I thought you liked him?”

 

Daichi blinks and finishes chewing his rice. “I do like him, but he didn’t confess to me or anything. Maybe he meant someone else.” He tries not to let the swirly feeling in his chest squeeze his heart too hard at the thought of Matsukawa being with someone else.

 

Suga just gives him this look, like Daichi is being an idiot again, but to be fair, Suga gives him that look on a fairly frequent basis, and Daichi can’t figure it out half the time. Then Suga shrugs, and that’s his ‘I give up, you’re hopeless’ shrug, and Daichi finishes his food while Suga sighs into his own pillow (for once).

 

“Date went well, then?” The noise from Suga could only be classified as a loud purr, and Daichi laughs as he leaves to go wash his dishes. Suga’s happily asleep by the time he gets back, so Daichi focuses on finishing some homework before he turns the light off and curls up in his own bed.

 

~~~

 

A few days later Daichi is crossing campus, taking a shortcut through the quad to get to the dorms, when he notices that Matsukawa has taken over the center bench again. He pauses at the edge of the small crowd and listens. Matsukawa’s a good guitar player, an even better singer, and Daichi is draw in pretty quickly. A couple of students on front of him leave as the song ends, and then Matsukawa looks up and spots him, smiles and starts a new song. This one he recognizes right away, one that Noya used to follow Asahi around the gym and sing in stilted English.

 

It’s predictably called ‘Just the Way You Are’ and Matsukawa keeps his focus on Daichi as he sings it, crooning in a low voice that sends shivers down Daichi’s spine. Daichi’s stomach rumbles loudly  as Matsukawa strums the last few notes, and Daichi backs up with a smile towards Matsukawa before he turns and continues on his way. There’s a smattering of applause behind him, and quite a few sighs of longing from a few of the girls that look like they’ve been there for a while. The guitar picks back up and Daichi listens to it float on the breeze until he’s far enough away that he can’t hear it anymore.

 

~~~

 

Daichi is tired, and he almost misses the basket on his desk in his exhaustion. He drops his bag next to the desk and is already pulling his shirt over his head so he can fall into bed when his brain processes that something wasn’t quite normal. His whole body stutters at the thought, and he gets caught up with his shirt around his arms and head for a good five minutes before he can wrestle his way free to investigate. The shirt is tossed carelessly to the side, just barely lands on the edge of his laundry basket.

 

The thing on the desk is a tiny little basket, filled with his favorite candies and even some packets of hot cocoa, and a card, almost hidden behind a huge chocolate bar. Daichi looks at the contents in amazement, wonders if whoever made it actually knew that these are his favorite things or if it was just pure luck. It’s definitely handmaid, and the cellophane is crinkled like it was reshaped over and over, and the black and orange ribbons are crooked and tied a little off center. Daichi thinks it’s cute.

 

He unwraps it carefully, puts the ribbons to the side on his desk, and rifles through the candy to pluck out the card. This is also handmade, a piece of printer paper clumsily folded over, though the handwriting inside is crisp and neat. ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, I never knew what perfect was until I met you.’  The line is dumb and cheesy, but it makes Daichi smile anyway. He flips the makeshift card over, but the only thing on the back is a little drawing of a leaf, which doesn’t really mean much to him. There’s no signature on it, unless the leaf is it, but Daichi doesn’t know anyone that would use that sort of thing. Of course, he’s also sure he doesn’t know who’d want to send him a basket of his favorite things. He picks out a chocolate bar and munches on it while he tries to think who’d go through so much effort for him. He stops for a second, considers if maybe the basket was meant for Suga instead.

 

But no, it’s on his desk, and now that Daichi looks at the ribbons again, he finds his name written in the same neat writing as the card, a simple ‘Daichi’ across the orange ribbon. Well, it’s definitely for him then. Whoever it was had to have a way to get into his room, though, so either Suga let them in or he brought it in for them. Suga’s off on another date with Hanamaki, though, so he can’t ask him now, and he knows that even with the slight boost the chocolate gives him, he’ll likely be asleep by the time that Suga gets back. He tosses the empty wrapper in the trash and decides to ask Suga when he sees him next, although Suga may just give him that look again, the one that says that he’s wondering if Daichi is being deliberately obtuse or if he really is that hard headed.

 

For a second Daichi considers that Suga might have done it, but he knows Suga’s handwriting almost as well as his own, and that clearly wasn’t it. There was something a little familiar about it, like he’s seen it before or maybe gotten a glimpse of it somewhere. He really can’t figure it out though, at least not as tired as he is, and he muses over it while he sheds his pants, flips off the light, and crawls into bed. The chocolate was good, his favorite brand, even, one that isn’t quite as cheap as the average college student can afford, and it makes warmth flow through his veins thinking that someone cared about him enough to figure out his favorites and then to buy them. Putting the basket together couldn’t have been terribly easy either, judging by the crinkled cellophane and quirky ribbons.

 

Daichi drifts off while wondering who it could’ve been, and he still hasn’t come up with an answer when he finally falls asleep. He wakes in the morning and the basket is still there, sitting innocently on his desk, even though Daichi had considered that maybe it was some sort of exhaustion induced dream. It almost glows in the sunlight coming in from the window, cellophane casting multicolored prisms of light onto the walls and ceiling. Suga’s breath is even in the bed above his, and they share a class first thing in the morning, so he decides to ask when Suga finally arises, hair mussed and cheeks pink from pressing into his pillow.

 

It’s a funny sight, watching Suga stumble around the room getting dressed, but eventually he’s awake enough to question. Daichi clears his throat. “Hey, do you know where that basket came from?”

 

Suga does give him That Look, the practically patented ‘Daichi you’re being a giant moron’ one, and Daichi gives him a scrunched face in return. Suga sighs. “You don’t have a single clue?”

 

Daichi cocks his head to the side, a look that he’s been told makes him look like a curious bird wondering if someone is going to drop food. “No? But you do, right? You’d have had to let them in, right? Or brought it in for them?”

 

Suga shakes his head. “Even if I had, don’t you think you should be able to figure out who it is yourself?” He sighs. “It’s not very fair to them if I just go and give it away, is it?”

 

Daichi nods, knows that what Suga has said makes sense, but he honestly can’t figure out who it might have been, and he wouldn’t mind a bit of help. “Okay.”

 

Suga pats his arm and scoops up his bag. “Let’s go, we don’t want to be late.”

 

Daichi grabs his own backpack and slips another candy out of the basket, puts it in the front pocket of his bag for later, when he knows he’ll need a pick me up between classes.

 

~~~

 

He’s not sure if it’s just him or not, but Matsukawa seems a little off the next time they all hang out. It might be that they’re all concentrating on their work, trying to get some tough homework out of the way before the weekend, or maybe he just didn’t sleep well the night before. They’ve all spent most of the last week or so in varying states of wakefulness, alternately thanking the blessing of coffee and cursing the existence of midterms. Suga and Hanamaki lean against each other while propped up against Matsukawa’s bed, which really only leaves the actual bed for Daichi and Matsukawa to sprawl out across.

 

Every so often one of Suga’s giggles makes it’s way into the air, and Daichi suspects that the couple on the floor is getting more canoodling done than actual work, though he’s just grateful that they haven’t degenerated into straight up PDA right in front of them. Daichi sighs and looks back down at his notes, which he’s supposed to be memorizing so he can try the practice quiz in his textbook to see if he has any chance at all of passing the actual quiz the next day.

 

Matsukawa pokes him in the side then, looks over at him with a grin brighter than the sun setting outside the room. “If I was an octopus, all my 3 hearts would beat for you.”

 

Daichi blushes, he knows he does, and he hears a stupid little sound from the floor that he knows is Suga trying (and failing) to not laugh out loud. Daichi glares at the back of his head, and Suga slumps down and stuffs his face in Hanamaki’s lap to muffle himself. Out of the corner of his eye Daichi thinks that Matsukawa looks a little pink, and he hopes that Suga laughing hasn’t offended him. Daichi cracks a grin and nudges his arm against Matsukawa’s.

 

“Putting your new knowledge to use already, huh?” He doesn’t know why Matsukawa is taking a class that involves octopi, but he does know that he’ll put anything he learns to (a questionable) ‘good’ use. The line was cute, really, a little cheesy, but aren’t all pick up lines cheesy? Plus Daichi is mostly used to it, since Matsukawa seems to have a fondness for them. Daichi goes back to his notes with a smile, arm still touching Matsukawa’s, and he tries to focus on the words on the page and not the heat of Matsukawa’s skin against his. He gets used to it, so much so that when Matsukawa finally shifts away to stand up Daichi immediately shivers even though he isn’t actually cold.

 

They all gather up their things then, and head out for dinner, Suga and Daichi stopping at their room to get rid of their bags. It’s a quiet walk to the cafeteria, and they all make sure to stretch out their muscles from being cramped together for so long. Suga and Hanamaki lead the way, practically skipping, arms linked together, and Daichi wonders if it would feel this comfortable if they were on a double date. He tries to tame the rampant butterflies that arise when he thinks about walking hand in hand with Matsukawa. He glances out of the corner of his eye to see Matsukawa looking up at the sky, looking down every so often so as to avoid walking into anything.

 

It’s hard to read his face, and Daichi has no idea what he might be thinking, so he just keeps to himself so he doesn’t interrupt. It’s a comfortable sort of introspective quiet, anyway, which is nice. They finally arrive at the cafeteria and they get food and eat quickly, and then the walk back is just as nice as the way there, maybe more so even, with more stars lighting up the sky. They part when they get to the dorms, Suga with a kiss to Hanamaki, and Daichi with a wave and a nod. Daichi wonders as he falls asleep how he got used to this so quickly, and what he’ll do when they don’t have it anymore.

 

~~~

 

Suga pushes Daichi into their room, and Hanamaki behind him has a devious look on his face that makes Daichi very, very suspicious. It’s really only matched by Suga’s own, though he’s trying to look innocent. Daichi isn’t fooled, not one tiny bit. The door to Daichi’s closet is open, which is suspicious because he never leaves it open since it makes the rest of the room much smaller. There’s a rustle from inside, and Daichi gets a little closer to see what it is, hoping that Suga hasn’t hidden some sort of animal. He’s seen how Suga looks at the stray cats around campus, and the occasional docile bird. They’re not allowed to have pets in the dorms, and if they get caught they’ll get in a ton of trouble.

 

He turns to tell Suga exactly that, but he doesn’t get a chance as Suga hip checks him easily into the cramped, dark space, and as Daichi loses his balance, Suga throws the door closed with a cackle. The closet really isn’t big enough for him to get anywhere, which means he doesn’t really get enough momentum to do himself any harm. It also helps that what he falls into is not the unforgiving rough closet wall, but a firm, warm chest. Large hands come up to settle on his waist, help him to reestablish his balance, and as his eyes slowly adjust to the lack of light, he realizes that he’s pretty much face planted right against Matsukawa’s chest, hands flat against the broad expanse.

 

“Oh. Hi?” Daichi is confused. He knew Suga (and Hanamaki) were up to something, but this is still unexpected. He reaches behind himself to see if he can push the door open, but it sticks resolutely in its frame and Daichi would bet (and win) that Suga’s locked it. He rests his hands back on Matsukawa, frames his sides with his hands since there’s really not many choices available.

 

Matsukawa chuckles and Daichi can feel it reverberate through his own chest with the way they’re pressed together in the tiny space. His voice is low, more hushed than usual and Daichi wonders if it’s because of how close they are, how easy it is to hear every little sound. “Hey. Fancy meeting you here, huh?”

 

“What are you doing in here?”

 

A cock of his head, and Matsukawa answers in a contemplative voice. “Suga told me he had a surprise for Hanamaki and asked me to come get it. He said he put it in here so Hanamaki wouldn’t find it in his own closet.”

 

Daichi hums. It definitely seems to be like Suga, both the excuse and the locking them in together. “Well, I guess _someone_ is surprised, even if it’s not Hanamaki.” He looks up into Matsukawa’s eyes, tries not to think too hard about how Matsukawa’s hands are still settled warm and steady on Daichi’s waist. “When do you think they’ll let us out?”

 

It may be dark in the closet, but Daichi’s eyes have adjusted enough, and he’s almost positive that Matsukawa’s face colors at the question. The clearing of his throat is another thing that tips Daichi off that Matsukawa might know why they’ve been shoved in a closet, even if he didn’t suspect before the actual locking in. Matsukawa’s fingers tighten for a second before releasing again, and then he tips his head down a bit more to get closer to Daichi’s face. “Will you go out with me? As my boyfriend?”

 

Daichi was not prepared for that. His breath leaves him in one tiny word. “ _Oh_.” He can feel the way Matsukawa sucks in a breath, the way his sides sink in a little under his hands. “I was hoping you’d ask.”

 

The breath is released, and Daichi can feel it gust gently over his face as Matsukawa moves in even closer, lips barely separated. “That’s a yes, then?”

 

“Yes.” His heart pounds harshly inside his chest and it only gets worse at the half lidded look that Matsukawa is giving him.

 

His next words are practically a whisper, more a puff of air than anything else. “Can I kiss you?”

 

Daichi’s stomach twists up in response, butterflies taken over and wreaking havoc. His eyes are closed before he even finishes answering. “Yes.”

 

Matsukawa leans in and closes the bare centimeter left, presses their lips together, and Daichi thinks that this may be the sweetest kiss he’s ever had. They separate with a sigh. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.” Matsukawa brushes his face against Daichi’s. “I’ve liked you for ages. I thought you didn’t feel the same since you kept ignoring all my attempts at confessing.”

 

Daichi drops his face back to Matsukawa’s chest to hide it, suddenly aware of how much of a giant idiot he’s been. He knows know why Suga kept giving him That Look, knows that he’s been possibly the most oblivious person on the face of the planet. It all falls into perfect clarity, the kabe-don, the serenading, the near constant pickup lines. Even the tiny candy basket, filled with his favorites, because of course they’re spent enough time together for Matsukawa to remember what Daichi likes the best. The handwriting that looked familiar but just a little off, because Matsukawa put much more effort into it to make it neat and legible than he usually would.

 

He groans into Matsukawa;s chest and wishes that he could go back in time and smack some sense into himself. The chest under his forehead rumbles as Matsukawa laughs gently and one hand comes off his waist to tilt his face up. He knows that his cheeks are as red as they’ve ever been, probably even redder than the time he accidentally walked in to Matsukawa and Hanamaki’s room to find Matsukawa bare chested and stretching after a shower. “I’m sorry. I’m an idiot. I just thought you were joking, being friendly. I didn’t think you had any feelings towards me besides friendship.”

 

“S’okay. Apparently I needed Suga’s help too. And we’re here now.”

 

Daichi scrunches his nose up. “Yeah. Stuck in a closet. How cliche.”

 

Matsukawa’s grin is bright, and he drops his hand from Daichi’s face to reach past Daichi to the doorknob. It twists easily in his grip and Daichi groans, knows this means that Suga and Hanamaki must have hung around long enough to determine that they were talking and wouldn’t notice the door being unlocked. Hopefully they’re not still out there. Daichi’s not sure he can handle that level of embarrassment right now, no matter how happy he is that he finally has exactly what he’s been hoping and wishing for the past few months. He already knows the cheeky expression Suga is going to give him, the one that says that he knows Daichi can’t possibly be mad at him because whatever he did ended well. It’s unfortunately a face that is almost as familiar as the ‘Daichi you’re being a moron’ one.

 

Daichi sighs again and sends a hopeful prayer to whoever might be listening that Suga and Hanamaki have gone off to make out somewhere instead of actually waiting around to see if their plan worked. He doesn’t move for a good thirty seconds, listening carefully to see if there’s any telltale noise coming from the room. There’s nothing, and he takes a tentative step backwards, letting his hands slide from Matsukawa’s sides as he backs into the room.

 

Unfortunately Suga is a tricky little shit, and just as a red faced Matsukawa steps out of the closet, there’s a hoot of laughter and applause. Daichi swings his head around to see them both near the door into the hall, with cheerful expressions on their faces. Suga blows him a kiss and winks and then grabs Hanamaki’s hand and hightails it off to who knows where. The door swings shut softly after them. Daichi shakes his head and Matsukawa takes his hand carefully.

 

“So, where do you want to go for our first date?” Matsukawa’s face is pink but happy, the happiest Daichi’s ever seen it.

 

“Is murdering our best friends an option?” Daichi quirks a brow.

 

Matsukawa pretends to think it over. “I think that might be bad luck, you know. Maybe for the second?”

 

Daichi grins.

 

~~~

 

Daichi’s back hits the door, and he fumbles to lock it, which takes a minute since Matsukawa is being exceedingly distracting. They’ve been dating about a month now, and they’ve both been waiting for the right moment to do this. Matsukawa is busy with his face pressed to Daichi’s neck, sucking a bruise just over the collar of his shirt, and Daichi spares a thought to thank Suga for not being here. Daichi slides a hand into Matsukawa’s hair, tugs a little and gets a bite in return. He groans and Matsukawa pulls his face away to kiss Daichi breathless, pressing him hard against the door.

 

The bed is barely feet away, but Daichi’s honestly not sure if they’ll even make it over there at this rate. He and Matsukawa had taken turns pushing each other up against walls and into alleyways to kiss frantically on the way back from the restaurant, and they’re both already more than keyed up. Matsukawa pulls away with a gasp and Daichi takes the opportunity to push him away so they can start stripping and make their way to the bed. Daichi pulls his shirt over his head impatiently, and Matsukawa makes a soft noise that Daichi wants to hear again. Matsukawa is biting his lip when Daichi looks over at him, and then Daichi’s tossing his shirt into the corner and moving forward to help Matsukawa get rid of his.

 

It’s not exactly easy pulling the shirt off someone taller than he is, but he manages without much trouble. It’s much easier to get to Matsukawa’s belt, and he has his jeans undone in record time. Those and the shirt join Daichi’s own, and then Matsukawa is brushing his hands out of the way to get to Daichi’s pants. They’re tight, a pair that Suga has told him make his thighs look amazing, and apparently Matsukawa agrees, judging by the way he kept groping at Daichi’s legs every time they stopped to kiss. He wiggles out of them eventually and falls back on the bed, grateful that he chose the bottom bunk, and Matsukawa follows him down. He locks their mouths together again, licks into Daichi’s mouth with abandon, warm tongue curling against Daichi’s own. Daichi hooks his fingers in Matsukawa’s underwear, gets them down enough that Matsukawa backs away and lets them fall to the floor around his ankles.

 

Daichi lays back, waves a hand at the desk when Matsukawa raises an eyebrow, watches as Matsukawa digs through the drawers to find what he’s looking for. The view is certainly something that Daichi’s never going to get tired of, all long lean lines of muscle rippling under his skin, and Daichi loves to watch him move. He returns with a rakish grin, and Daichi doesn’t bother to feel distressed that he was caught staring. Matsukawa tosses his findings on the bed next to Daichi, a partially used bottle of lube and a couple of condoms that Daichi thought would be handy at some point in his college career.

 

Matsukawa kisses him again, then starts his way down Daichi’s next again. He nips at Daichi’s throat in that one spot again, and then works his way further down, pressing kisses and little bites at any available bit of skin that appeals to him. He takes a meandering path, sucks on a nipple on his way down, bites at Daichi’s abs, until he gets down to the waistband of his boxer briefs. He kneels on the floor then, positions himself between Daichi’s legs like he wants to live there. He presses a kiss to the tiny trail of dark hair that disappears beneath it, and then he hooks his fingers in them and pulls them off with a gentleness that most wouldn’t expect of him.

 

He slides them down carefully, tosses them off to the pile of clothes in the corner, and then turns back to stare at Daichi all spread out on the bed, legs splayed to either side of Matsukawa’s body. Daichi knows that his face is red now, at being all out on display for the first time, and he can feel the blush traveling down his chest the longer that Matsukawa stares without saying anything. He looks positively entranced, and Daichi nudges his side with an ankle. He startles then, just for a second before his gaze drifts the rest of the way up Daichi’s body to his face, and a slow, predatory grin settles on his face.

 

Then Matsukawa is leaning in again, presses an open mouthed kiss that turns into a bite to the inside of one of Daichi’s thighs. Daichi groans, lets his head drop back against the mattress as Matsukawa sucks hard. There’s a click then, the familiar sound of his lube being opened, and then Matsukawa’s smiling against the skin of his thigh as he brushes one long finger against Daichi’s asshole. Daichi sucks in a breath and waits, lets his body relax against the bed as Matsukawa slowly pushes in. It feels a million times better than anything Daichi can do to himself. Matsukawa’s fingers are longer than his, and they reach different spots, and it feels incredible.

 

There’s a second finger not long after that, and Daichi knows he can take it easily, even though he probably wouldn’t admit to doing the same thing that morning, when Suga was off at one of the classes that they don’t share. Matsukawa hums a pleased noise, though, and Daichi’s glad that he’s still loose enough for it not to take forever to get prepared. Matsukawa gently presses another finger to Daichi’s rim and waits for Daichi to make a noise to tell him it’s okay to keep going. He gets it, and then Matsukawa’s three fingers deep and Daichi has never felt as good as he does then. The rhythm gets a little faster, and then Matsukawa’s found the perfect spot and Daichi moans loudly.

 

That seems to spark Matsukawa into motion, surging up and kissing Daichi forcefully as he pulls his fingers out and fumbles around for the condom. Daichi laughs breathlessly when Matsukawa pulls away, takes the slippery package out of his hands and rips it open with ease. Then he’s got a handful of Matsukawa’s dick, which is plenty more than a handful, and the condom slides on easily. Matsukawa finds the lube again, slicks himself up and then leans down to kiss Daichi again before he attempts to push in.

 

Daichi surprises him then, though, because when Matsukawa gets close enough he hooks his hands behind his neck and flips them both over. Matsukawa flops on the mattress with a wide eyed look and Daichi balanced precariously over his thighs. He crawls up on his knees, raises himself to hover above Matsukawa;s hips and then he leans forward for a kiss. He tugs on Matsukawa’s bottom lip as he pulls away, and then he’s sinking gently down on Matsukawa’s dick, letting out a sigh as he goes. Matsukawa isn’t exactly small, and Daichi feels stretched out in the best way.

 

Beneath him, Matsukawa looks like he’s seeing something that he never has and may never see again in all his life. He looks up at Daichi like he’s the most gorgeous thing he’s ever seen, and Daichi blushes again at the attention. Then he’s raising himself up again, slowly and steadily, and Matsukawa draws in a deep breath that is forced back out roughly when Daichi sinks back down again. Daichi whines when his dick brushes his prostate again, and then he’s moving up and down again, tries to hit the same spot. Matsukawa has his hands fisted in the sheets at Daichi’s knees, knuckles white, and Daichi pulls them free and settles them on his hips, urges Matsukawa to help him move.

 

The rhythm turns fierce, Daichi moving as fast as he can without toppling over, and Matsukawa helps to keep him balanced by the tight hold on his hips. A thought crosses Daichi’s mind, that with how hard Matsukawa is holding on, he’ll likely have bruises on his hips for days, and he can’t help but to moan at the thought. He slams back down again, hard, and apparently Matsukawa has had enough because he flips them back over again. It only gets faster and harder from there and Daichi braces his hands on the wall above his head so that he isn’t slammed right into it. Matsukawa groans, and fists a hand around Daichi’s dick, which makes Daichi gasp and tremble under his touch.

 

It’s not long after that, Matsukawa’s long fingers wrapped around his dick, the pounding thrusts, and they finish at what seems to be the same time, both of them groaning loud into the otherwise quiet air of the room. They’re both breathing heavily, and Matsukawa pulls out gently so they can clean up. He takes care of the condom, wraps it in a tissue before he drops it in the wastebasket, which is good because if Suga sees that kind of thing he will never let Daichi live it down. He also grabs the box of tissues from the desk and uses a few to wipe Daichi’s stomach and his own hand clean. Those go in the wastebasket too, and by then Daichi has readjusted on the bed, is lying properly with the blankets pulled up to his waist. Matsukawa smiles and slides in next to him, settles on his back, and Daichi pillows his head on his shoulder, one hand resting just above his beating heart.

 

Matsukawa leans over for a sweet kiss, and then he rubs his nose against Daichi’s playfully. Daichi laughs, and then pushes him back down and settles again. “Go to sleep, Issei.”

 

He gets a quiet hum in response, and then a few words that are more a sigh than anything else. “Okay, Dai. G’night.”

 

Daichi drifts off to sleep in a warm haze.

 

~~~

 

He wakes slowly the next morning, lets the soft morning sunlight drift across his face without opening his eyes. It’s so calm and peaceful that he probably would have drifted right back to sleep if it weren’t for the soft voice singing just above a whisper next to him. He cracks his eyes open the tiniest amount possible, trying not to give away that he’s not completely asleep anymore. Matsukawa has the arm against the bed bent, propping his head up so that he’s above Daichi. He’s singing quietly, and Daichi doesn’t recognize this song, though he can understand the words fairly easily. He closes his eyes again and just listens.

 

“Superstitiously, I'm watching my words, all of my words. Now, like a birthday wish, don't say it out loud, never out loud.” There’s a soft touch to Daichi’s face then, a hand on his cheek, and then another one, Matsukawa’s forehead against his. Then more lyrics coming as tiny gusts of air across his lips, and Daichi is sure even before he hears the words that he is in love with this wonderful, sweet person. “Yeah I want to tell everyone, that you are, you are my only one. Screaming at the top of my lungs, but I'm whispering, I'm whispering, I'm whispering cause I don't wanna jinx it.”

 

Daichi opens his eyes again, though it’s almost painful with Matsukawa so close, and then he closes them again and closes the bare distance between them, one hand firm on the back of Matsukawa’s neck. He kisses him fiercely, filled with feelings and words he can’t express properly, knows there’s only one good way to say what he’s thinking. To say what Matsukawa wants to say, what he’s afraid to say too loud in case he breaks the spell laid over them. Daichi is very suddenly not afraid at all. He says it plainly, drops it in the air between them, much louder than a whisper, in a voice firm and steady like the pulse he can feel beating against his hand.

 

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come yell at me on [tumblr](http://matsukawa---issei.tumblr.com/).


End file.
